The Results in Urtsadzor Should Worry Authorities, Analyst Says

Political analyst Gagik Hambaryan has written on his Facebook page:

“The voters in Urtsadzor were guided by the slogan, ‘Do not love too much, nor hate too much.’ On February 17, local self-government elections took place in 24 communities across several regions of Armenia... Public attention was focused on several communities where residents organized protests demanding the resignation of the local mayors after the Velvet Revolution...

At the center of the most scandalous events was the enlarged community of Urtsadzor in the Ararat region, which was affected by protests and road blockades since the end of September 2018, as well as by the intervention of the Ararat governor calling for the resignation of village mayor Rafik Andreasyan. These actions yielded results...

Unable to withstand the ‘multifaceted’ pressures, Urtsadzor's mayor Andreasyan resigned... On February 17, local self-government elections were also held in Urtsadzor, and surprisingly for the authorities, the individual whose resignation was demanded by villagers five months earlier won the election. Rafik Andreasyan collected 917 votes, surpassing the interim acting mayor and the protégé of the Ararat governor, Gevorg Avetisyan, by 216 votes...

The results recorded in Urtsadzor should worry the authorities... There is no need to look for politics here...

For villagers, what matters is the positive outcomes of the mayor's work, which, according to the election results, did not satisfy the residents of the enlarged Urtsadzor community... As a result, the authorities were defeated... The phenomenon of the Urtsadzor elections will not be unique if the authorities continue to operate by pointing out the mistakes of their predecessors and creating false agendas, while paying little attention to addressing the real demands of society...

It has been nine months since the Velvet Revolution, but society has not yet felt positive results in socio-economic terms, which has led to deep disappointment among a significant portion of the population...

P.S. As they say, ‘Do not love too much, nor hate too much...’ The authorities have plenty to think about...”